Behaviour
Why is good behaviour important?
We expect that all of our young people will be equally able to aspire to the highest standards of personal behaviour, though some will need extra support to maintain this consistently. We successfully promote good, trustworthy behaviour in order that children are enabled to reap life-long personal and economic advantages. No well-behaved child should have his or her education or development affected by the bad behaviour choices of others. We have high expectations regarding how students should conduct themselves and parental support in maintaining high standards is essential too. Excellent behaviour is also a key to learning and we have very high standards. Our extensive Behaviour Policy can be found at this link. We begin with students when they start with us in Year 7s, believing that a disciplined start to their first year with us allows students to form good habits that help them to integrate effectively and to form good relationships with their teachers.
We welcome parental support
Parents and carers are a key part of our success at Durham Johnston Comprehensive School. We expect parents to support their children as they grow and develop into good citizens of the future. We therefore expect parents and carers to support teachers and uphold Durham Johnston’s discipline and authority, as we believe that children need to see unity and to have a clear understanding of boundaries. To ensure your child’s safety it is essential that the school holds up-to-date contact details in case of an emergency. Please make sure that you notify the school of any change in family circumstances (including any temporary arrangements), changes of address and telephone numbers as soon as possible.
Contacting School
We are a very busy and hardworking school and our teachers are committed to supporting and developing all children. We think very carefully about how we communicate and try to avoid any emotional or ill-considered judgements. We encourage you to think in this way too. It is never possible for the school to respond immediately to a concern that you might raise. Our teachers are very busy between 8.00a.m. and 4.00 p.m. and cannot check emails and reply to queries as they are teaching, marking and planning. We will always try to reply as quickly as possible, but our response will rarely be immediate. We will always be polite and considerate and would request the same from other members of the school community. We will not tolerate any aggressive or offensive behaviour. On occasions, parents or carers will visit school without an appointment. If this does occur, we will not be able to meet with you, as all appointments should be made in advance. In the event that the member of staff whom you wish to contact is teaching or in a meeting when you telephone, a member of the Reception team will take down your message and will forward it on to the member of staff concerned.
We strive to keep children safe and maintain a happy and orderly community at Durham Johnston Comprehensive School but we find it hard to solve problems within or between families, or disputes in the local community so we ask that such issues are kept out of school. The issues take time away from learning and are not the school’s responsibility.